Mana: And so it was written: Pokiehlember 1st, Year 1, Salamander's Day. Evening comes - do the mists of the Shade dim? Do the crystals around the Carceri lose their strange, pearlescent luster? No, they continue on, oblivious to the passage of time.
Mana: The door to the SDU library lies shut behind Toth. It is apparently full of aggressive books.
Toth sighs to himself. So much for independent research. (Did he say that before?) After straightening his suit, he glances about the hall, and begins to make his way out of Kuro Kuro Carceri, back into Shade proper.
Mana: The Dreaming City. The markets continue on, as always. There's a crowd gathered around someone selling a caged lizard from a wheeled cart.
Toth will dip into a shop, looking to buy three Candies.
Mana: They're quickly packaged up in a bundle for him - the shopkeeper smiles behind her glasses. "Monsters are getting more and more dangerous these days, aren't they?"
Toth: "From the fuzzy to the spidery to the bookish."
Mana: She nods. "Nasty sorts. I guess the trick is to pick battles your magic can rip to shreds in moments…" She lowers her glasses, leans over the counter, slides the bundle forwards.
Mana: "Not that either of us have magic, of course!"
Toth slides the bundle towards himself with an arm and smiles back. "Of course. You think it'll get any worse as the night grows?"
Mana: "Even glowing monsters are creatures of the darkness. They get bolder as the night grows late."
Toth: "Not that one can tell very well here in Shade."
Mana: "You can set your clock by the monsters! When Guilloganches start appearing…"
Mana: She points a wrinkled, accusatory finger forwards. "You're up too late!"
Toth: "What, pray tell, is a Guilloganche?"
Mana: "I suppose the best comparison is a clawed, predatory cake."
Toth: "Edible?"
Mana: "No."
Toth: "Does jumping on it help ward it off or kill it?"
Mana: "I do not recommend jumping on Guilloganches."
Toth: "Best to beat it with a stick, then. I'll be sure to not sample any random cake I find."
Mana: "Likely your best shot, sonny."
Toth: "Thanks for the information." He nods and smiles. "Have a good viglum."
Mana: "Yes. Same to you." (Anyway, you bought some candy.)
Toth pops two of them in his mouth as he makes his way back into the street. He then heads downward yet again, because he can't leave well enough alone, and start heading for the Black Caravan tunnels, and toward the Great Stone Hall.
[OOC] Mana: Candy restores health.
Mana: The caverns wind downwards - you're beginning to get used to their strange twists, their weird geometries. And the hike doesn't even make you tired!
Mana: Hexagon Land. The fog is, gently, lifting - cracks seem to be appearing on the six-sided stone pillars that jut out from the floor.
Mana: One of those pale white, four-legged phantoms - what are they called, again? - is bumping its head into a wall, over and over.
Mana: It backs up a little bit. It walks forward again. Bump!
Toth chokes up on his staff and aims a whack at its big butt!
Mana: Whack! Roll the hit.
Toth rolled 1d100 and got 34 ( Total: 34 ) for 80
Mana: It backs up, stumbles, turns, smiles, facing you.
Toth rolled 1d10+80 and got 1 ( Total: 81.0 )
[OOC] Mana: 61]!
Toth: "The war's already started against your kind. I'm here to clean up."
Mana: Battle order: Toth [F]:0 Apathia [F]:2
Mana: Status for Apathia [F] : [========= ]
Mana: Toth, the advantage is yours!
Toth strikes at the Apathia again! [Attack, 43D]
Toth rolled 1d100 and got 80 ( Total: 80 ) for 80
Mana: Hit! Its head turns sideways at the blow.
Toth rolled 1d10+80 and got 3 ( Total: 83.0 )
[OOC] Mana: 63]!
Mana: The Apathia puts on a burst of speed, smiling madly as it rears up and lances through Toth with one of its long, spindly forelegs. [Leg Strike]
Mana rolled 1d100 and got 91 ( Total: 91 ) for 80
Mana: Blue hexagonal lines seeth along the cracks of the rock from where its leg is embedded. That's a miss!
Mana: Toth!
Mana: Battle order: Toth [F]:0 Apathia [F]:0
Mana: Status for Apathia [F] : [======== ]
Toth: "If that pattern follows your spindly legs, it shouldn't be hard to find you!" He aims his staff at the Apathia. [CT 15]
Mana: It rips its leg out from the ground, sending a scatter of tiny prism-shaped pebbles flying as its wipes at Toth with its other, expression unchanging.
Mana rolled 1d100 and got 67 ( Total: 67 )
Mana rolled 1d10+64 and got 4 ( Total: 68.0 ) for 60 to Lock (3)
Also rolled 1d100 and got 43 [Total: 43 (Low), Avg: 43.00]
Total: 111.0, Avg: 23.50
Mana: Hits for 68 damage - the wound's seething, the skin around it crawls -
Mana: A strange, cold feeling runs down Toth's spine. Lock (3)!
Mana: Battle order: Toth [F]:0 Apathia [F]:26
Mana: Status for Apathia [F] : [======== ]
Toth: "Ach!-" He readies his aim again, and Firebolts fly from his staff! [Firebolt, 28D]
Mana: Fwoom, fwoom, fwoom! It's a hit!
Toth rolled 1d12+120 and got 11 ( Total: 131 )
[OOC] Mana: 131]!!
Mana: Battle order: Apathia [F]:0 Toth [F]:2
Mana: Status for Apathia [F] : [====== ]
Mana: The Apathia's head twists, and its jaw opens… [Phantom Strike]
Mana rolled 1d100 and got 56 ( Total: 56 ) for 80
Mana: And the head goes snapping out like it's attached to a stretch of pulled taffy, latching onto Toth and smashing him against the ceiling. Then the floor. Then the ceiling.
Mana: There's a spray of phantom spittle as it lets go, returning back to its unnerving, calm smile.
Mana rolled 1d12+80 and got 7 ( Total: 87.0 ) for 60 to Poison Defaith Deprotect
Also rolled 3d100 and got 58, 100, 45 [Total: 203 (High), Avg: 67.67]
Total: 290.0, Avg: 52.50
Mana: For 87 physical damage - and Poison (4) and Deprotect (4)!
Mana: Battle order: Toth [F]:0 Apathia [F]:51
Mana: Status for Apathia [F] : [====== ]
Mana: Toth!
Toth: "So much for that-!" He begins backing up! [CT 10]
Mana: It… it doesn't give chase at all!
Toth beats feet out of there.
Mana: The entrance to Hexagon Land. Fog billows out, onto the Shade causeway.
Mana: That wound… those blue lines around it aren't clearing up.
[OOC] Mana: Exposure has increased by 1.
Toth sighs. "Okay, so I'll need help beating those up."
Mana: There's the click of a parasol behind you. Someone's coming down the causeway.
Mana: "Well, he put in a good effort, didn't he?"
Toth straightens his pants to hide his wound, and then straightenes himself to hide his quickened breath.
Toth turns to look at the voice.
Mana: A tall, lanky woman, with a croquet mallet over one shoulder, her parasol clicking against the ground. The color scheme is pink-and-orange - platform boots, a sundress, a sunhat. Too much blush to be natural, and her eyelashes are unnaturally long and glossy - heavily made up. She smiles.
Toth: "Not as good as I'd like."
Mana: "No, silly! The Apathy." She grins, impishly, tossing her parasol up into the air and catching it, pointing it at Toth.
Toth: "Oh, of course."
Toth: "He won't next time."
Mana: "I should really introduce myself. I'm Nara Odeheimer, a Justification, the fourth Service." She affects a curtsey.
Mana: "And, goodness! He'd better watch out."
Toth looks up, and you can hear the music cue the low rumble, the tone shift. "Is that so. I'm Toth." He bows slightly.
Mana: "Happy to meet you! Let's take good care of eachother in the new world."
Mana: "(Ehehehe, it's hard to make that sound sincere, isn't it? Sorry.)"
Toth: "(You tried.)"
Mana: "(That is what counts!)"
Toth leans on his staff, adjusting his stance ever so slightly. Weight shifted onto his back leg, his eyes dart around her, looking for others.
Mana: She's alone. She looks back over her shoulder.
Mana: "Nope, nothing. You know how many packs of monsters I had to cut through to get here? It's such a pain."
Mana: "Umm, so, I know it's awkward, but… ehh…"
Mana: "How much did the Dispassionata tell you?"
Toth: "A lot. Far more than I expected.
Mana: She smiles. "Aw, did lay on the charm?"
Mana: "…Well, he's probably whining about where he's stuck. I'm here to give him a lift."
Toth glances over his shoulder and then back to her. "The fact you haven't tried to kill me yet makes me wonder how much was true."
Toth: "Manners can get one a long way."
Mana: She grins really widely, taking a bounding step forward. "Ooh! What did he say about me killing you?"
Toth: "The Dispassionata will be glad to hear that, too. He'd thought you all forgot about him."
Mana: "No one left behind! Airlifts for Dispassions and bandaids for Apathies." She snaps her palm against her brow in an absurd salute.
Toth: "Not much, other than the higher the Service, the more likely the killing."
Toth shuffles back a half step at her bounding step.
Mana: "Hm… I guess that's sort of true…" She paces about. "I mean, the lower ones have simpler jobs, but the higher ones are more… big picture!"
Mana: "And I mean, the obvious way to pull off the big picture is to take you out of commission!"
Toth: "How about the non-obvious?"
Mana: "Well, that's the thing."
Mana: She puffs her chest out with pride. Not that it's much of a chest - "In addition to being a defender of the hurt and cornered, the rescuer of the forgotten, AND the punisher of the enemy, Justifications are, uh, image-matched."
Mana: "So you look like us, is the thing. Which means we can talk to you!"
Mana: "(I mean, you can sorta talk to Dispassion, but not as well, you know…?)"
Mana: "(Look at this! All the talking we're doing. So weird.)"
Toth: "(I prefer it to the killing.)"
Mana: She laughs a snickering laugh, skips a step back, and takes a swing with her mallet against the air. To illustrate… some point, or another.
Toth gets the idea, yeah.
Toth: "You said you had to kill a lot of monsters to get here?"
Mana: "Yup!"
Mana: "Nothing interesting, really. I stumbled into a bat nest… such a pain."
Toth: "Well, there aren't really monsters in Shade, so I thought it was kind of weird you had to do so."
Mana: "Aww, you're lying, though!"
Toth: "Oh?"
Toth: "I mean, aside from you guys and a dusty ol' library…"
Toth: "I think I'm spot on.
Mana: "Just because you've been avoiding them, doesn't mean they aren't there! What about by that… waterfall… place!"
Toth: "What about it?"
Mana: "There's monsters by there! Those weird little slimes and the bats."
Toth: "I suppose… I hadn't taken notice of them."
Toth: "Guess you're right."
Toth: "Well, at least those are dead now?"
Mana: "Mmhm. I'm surprised you guys manage to get anywhere with how weak you are!"
Toth: "We get by."
Toth: "Speaking of, I suppose I should let you by, too."
Mana: "Mmhm! Catch you later."
Toth: "Be seeing you." He starts inching to the side, to give her space- his staff holding hand still between the two.
Mana: She kisses her hand as she passes Toth, then presses her palm against his cheek as she slips by into Hexagon Land.
[OOC] Toth: if i get another rank of exposure from that I'm gonna lol
Toth watches as she leaves, and then he exhales a breath he'd been holding onto since they met.
[OOC] Mana: Indirect kisses do not increase Exposure.
Toth: "(Time to get serious about this.)" He shuffles back up the Black Caravan causeways and takes a second to catch his breath, before heading for the Vertical Market.
Mana: The waterfall underneath the Vertical Market - It looks like a hurricane came through here, or worse.
Mana: There's a huge chunk of the canyon missing, still hot and smoldering. Huge grooves have been slashed through the stone in places.
Toth: "(I do hope she was telling the truth. If so, finding out what waterfall she was talking about might lead to another Services base.)"
Toth: "(…at least one could follow all the destruction.)"
Toth begins to walk and climb, navigatin the Vertical Market.
Mana: The Vertical Market heaves as you climb up to it, lowering, leveling itself out.
Mana: Which makes the climb easier.
Mana: There's a thump from one of the dim, dusty-windowed stores that line the old arcade street and a telephone-headed mummy comes crawling out.
Toth: "Ugh. Yeah, hi. Let's make this quick." He raises his staff!
Mana: Battle order: Telephone Mummy [F]:0 Toth [F]:1
Mana: Status for Telephone Mummy [F] : [==========]
Mana: It shambles forward, taking a swing - [Clobber!]
Mana rolled 1d100 and got 58 ( Total: 58 )
Mana rolled 1d10+48 and got 4 ( Total: 52.0 )
Mana: Hitting for 52 physical damage!
Mana: Battle order: Toth [F]:0 Telephone Mummy [F]:43
Mana: Status for Telephone Mummy [F] : [==========]
Mana: Toth!
Toth aims his staff at the Mummy! [CT 15] And probably fires in the same breath! [Firebolt, 28D]
Toth rolled 1d12+120 and got 5 ( Total: 125.0 ) for salamander
Mana: Flame rips out, blasting it for [125] damage!
Mana: Battle order: Toth [F]:0 Telephone Mummy [F]:0
Mana: Status for Telephone Mummy [F] : [==== ]
Mana: Toth, go!
Toth smacks the Mummy with his staff! [Attack, 43D]
Toth rolled 1d100 and got 93 ( Total: 93 ) for 80
Mana: It catches the staff with its two bandage-wrapped, ape-like hands.
Mana: It lifts up the receiver of its telephone head, spraying [Zombie Breath] abou!
Mana rolled 1d100 and got 57 ( Total: 57 ) for 80
Mana rolled 1d10+48 and got 6 ( Total: 54.0 )
Also rolled 1d100 and got 30 [Total: 30 (Low), Avg: 30.00]
Total: 84.0, Avg: 18.00
Mana: Hack hack, wheeze - Toth takes 54 physical damage and is Zombied (4)!
Mana: Battle order: Toth [F]:0 Telephone Mummy [F]:3
Mana: Status for Telephone Mummy [F] : [==== ]
Mana: Toth!
Toth: "Oh, enough of this-" He aims his staff at the Mummy again! [CT 15]
Mana: It takes a clobbering swing at Toth, seeing the magic build - [Clobber]
Mana rolled 1d100 and got 7 ( Total: 7 )
Mana rolled 1d10+48 and got 9 ( Total: 57.0 )
Mana: Hitting for 57 physical damage!
Mana: Toth, now!
Toth fires! [Firebolt, 28D]
Toth rolled 1d12+120 and got 6 ( Total: 126.0 )
[OOC] Mana: 126]! It's incinerated!
[OOC] Mana: Got 2 AP. Got 150 EXP. Got 30 Lucre.
Toth sighs, and waits for the coughing to pass before eating his other Candy.
Mana: The eternally put-upon Mr. Toth.
Mana: Candy restores health. The rest of the climb awaits you!
Toth will endure, as he has. The rest of the climb will be bestd!
Mana: The warm water of the drainage pipes. It's flowing outwards - likely towards Undine.
Mana: Inwards is the source, of course. And downwards is the breach into the Shade.
Toth: "(If there's one place I'd be most likely to run into Mr. Rigo again…)" He walks, tromp tromp thunk, into the pipes, towards Undine.
Mana: And so it was written.